egypt would be the typical choice years ago. in light of the fact that president morsi has condemned israel about this, any awkwardness or is he just the only choice? >> reporter: well, it's interesting because egypt is trying to broker a peace deal, but the point you're making is a good one. they're not only brokers, they're also participants in the process. one of the things that hamas is calling for is that the border that hamas has with egypt be opened up. in the past, egypt has resisted that and now it appears that is one of the issues being negotiated. to what extent israel wants to seem like they've resolved this crisis could depend very much on their willingness to open at least some of that border crossing for goods and supplies. so in the past they played a very different role. now they've very clearly aligned themselves with the hamas government. how far are they willing to go? that remains to be seen. we'll have to keep in mind that the egyptian government receives billions of dollars in financial aid from the u.s. a